‘Indiana Jones 5’ Is Delayed (Again)

It wasn’t that long ago that Harrison Ford was claiming Indiana Jones 5 would be filming “this spring.” It‘s hard to believe it wasn’t that long ago now, because “that long ago” no longer has any reasonable meaning in the world of coronavirus. It wasn’t that long ago? What are we talking about, 12 minutes ago?

Anyway, it wasn’t that long ago, but a lot has happened since then. For one thing, we learned Steven Spielberg wouldn’t direct Indy 5, which would be a first for the franchise. And now, because of coronavirus and a host of factors, the film has been postponed for a full year. It will not come out as scheduled on July 9, 2021. Instead, you can expect it (or maybe hope for it) on July 29, 2022. (At one point, we should not, this movie was scheduled to open in the summer of 2019.)

In a related subject, on July 13, 2022, Harrison Ford will turn 80 years old. Who’s ready for 80-year-old Indy?

The last we heard, James Mangold was the pick to direct this film in Spielberg’s place, although no official announcement was ever made to that effect. Give the rate at which the world changes in 2020, it seems absurd to even ponder life in 2022. And with an almost-80-year-old hero, this seems like a franchise that could be particularly tricky to produce now. You can’t have Harrison Ford running around a set — much less traveling the world on a press tour — because he’s square in the middle of the highest risk age group for coronavirus, even if he happens to be in good health.

So production couldn’t possibly begin this summer even if Mangold signs on and squares away the script in reasonable fashion. Hopefully everyone involved remains healthy, the story comes together, and this does happen — if only because that means Harrison Ford remains healthy through this pandemic, and we really need that to be true. There’s no magical healing Holy Grail in our universe.

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